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An opinion editorial in the New York Times just made a major admission: The H-1B visa program is bad for Americans, and actually causes MORE worker shortages.
Written by Farah Stockman, the op-ed begins: Elon Musk and the other tech moguls fluttering around Donald Trump claim that Silicon Valley needs more H-1B visas to bring in foreign workers because there aren’t enough Americans studying science and tech. American innovation requires “critical people” from abroad like Musk himself, they say, because Americans just don’t want to learn that stuff.
There’s some truth to that. But what they don’t tell you is that for more than a decade, Americans working in the tech industry have been systematically laid off and replaced by cheaper H-1B visa holders.
I discovered this in 2013 when I reported an investigative project for The Boston Globe about widespread fraud in and abuse of the H-1B visa program. At the time, three companies got the largest number of visas in the H-1B lottery: Infosys, Tata and Cognizant. All three used a business model that cut costs by bringing over temporary workers from India and leasing them out to American firms like indentured servants. Prominent companies were jettisoning their locally hired I.T. departments and outsourcing those jobs.
Stockman explains that the same three companies are still among the top five recipients of the visas.
“When Americans realize they can’t make a living as software engineers, they leave the industry. The H-1B program worsens the very shortages it was supposed to address,” she writes.
Elon Musk has argued in support of H-1B visas, and claimed it allows companies to recruit top talent.
However, Stockman pointed out: “Most H-1B visa holders are lower-paid labor, not top talent. In May, Musk laid off more than 14,000 Tesla workers, including many H-1B visa holders.”
Dems (Bernie, @nytopinion writers) seem to be turning against H-1B. Dems have almost half the votes in the House. GOP base already hates it. Are @ElonMush and @DavidSacks happy they turned H-1B into a big pre-inaugural issue? https://t.co/tyT4kXeOkv Sorry, that was negative.
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) January 5, 2025
REPORT: Teamsters Union President, and Bernie Sanders, condemn H-1B Visa Program
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